GovTech - Microsoft Australia Government Affairs Blog

Parents across regional Queensland connect to ThinkUKnow

2013-05-20T00:48:00Z

The Department of Education, Training and Employment (DETE) together with ThinkUKnow, an initiative of the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and Microsoft, and supported by ninemsn and Datacom, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to deliver cyber-safety training to parents across Queensland.

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GovHack 2013 – A national approach for inspiring government

2013-05-07T03:14:00Z

Microsoft is excited to be sponsoring the GovHack 2013.

GovHack 2013 has gone from big to bigger with a national event this year. From May 31 to June 2 2013, 8 locations in Australia will come together with over 400 participants and 150 teams to play with government data and create unique solutions and services. Solutions which then have a chance to become reality.

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The Hidden Risks of Using Pirated Software

2013-03-25T01:17:00Z

Ever wondered how much cheap (or free) pirated software could cost you? How much do you value the photos of that treasured family occasion, the sensitive data stored on your computer or the passwords you type to logon to your bank website?

Microsoft Australia went to local markets in Melbourne to purchase counterfeit Windows and Office software from four different sellers (pictured), and tested what was on the DVDs. The results were worrying.

Of six counterfeit Microsoft Office disks tested, they found that five were infected with malware.

Of the twelve counterfeit Windows disks tested, they found that six could not install and run, and so could not be tested. They were duds!

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Safer Internet Day 2013

2013-02-04T23:35:00Z

Safer Internet Day is an annual event organised by the European network for internet safety, Insafe. This year, Safer Internet Day will be held on 5 February and celebrated in more than 60 countries worldwide.

The theme of Safer Internet Day 2013 is “Online Rights and Responsibilities” and users around the world are encouraged to “Connect with respect”. So what does respect look like in a digital environment where we may be communicating with inanimate programs (do we respect things that aren’t alive?) or with people that we don’t know or who don’t know us (is respect only important when it is visible?)? We would argue that respect needs to be shown in all our actions as not only do they reflect on us, but affect how others show us respect.

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National Panel for Economic Reform Communiqué - Putting People First

2013-01-29T09:38:00Z

The Communiqué released by the Prime Minister following the inaugural meeting of the National Panel for Economic Reform is welcomed by Microsoft Australia. It reiterates the importance to Australia of instituting policy and management reforms across the economy that focus on the goal of achieving long-term productivity gains.

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Microsoft welcomes Social Networking Protocol

2013-01-16T05:12:00Z

Microsoft today welcomed the Cooperative Arrangement for Complaints Handling announced by the Prime Minister which calls on major technology companies to work co-operatively with Government, law enforcement agencies and the community to help address the issue of online bullying.

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Microsoft ranked #1 for Corporate Social Responsibility in Reputation Institute’s 2012 CSR RepTrak™ 100 Report

2012-12-12T03:15:00Z

Today, the Reputation Institute, one of the world’s leading reputation management consultant firms, announced Microsoft ranked #1 in its 2012 CSR RepTrak™ 100 report naming the companies with the best reputations for corporate social responsibility around the world.

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Microsoft Awards a $75,000 Imagine Cup Grant to jumpstart Australia’s Team StethoCloud

2012-12-06T04:49:00Z

Yesterday, Microsoft Corp. announced the winners of the second annual Imagine Cup Grants, a three-year, US $3 million competitive grant program that provides students with funding and support to help transform their project into a social enterprise or nonprofit that will address a specific social issue. The Imagine Cup Grants are part of Microsoft’s YouthSpark initiative that aims to create opportunities for 300 million youth over the next 3 years.

Australia's Team StethoCloud were awarded the second place grant of $75,000 for developing a solution to diagnose childhood pneumonia.

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The Promise of Differential Privacy

2012-12-05T23:37:00Z

At Microsoft, we have some of the world’s top privacy researchers working on a wide variety of interesting challenges. We strive to translate this research into new privacy-enhancing technologies.

We recently released a new whitepaper on Microsoft’s research in Differential Privacy written by Javier Salido on my team.

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Helping to Save the Great Barrier Reef with Cloud Computing

2012-12-04T04:25:00Z

Microsoft is contributing software, services and technical expertise to address the needs of citizen science on the Great Barrier Reef, an important milestone in bringing the power of technology to the protection and management of the Great Barrier Reef.

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